Heroic Recliner Saves Husband From Wife’s Assault

November 22, 2006

Perhaps irritated because her husband would never get up out of the recliner, Jan Kamp fired a bullet at her husband Norman on Sunday night after an argument. But she did not reckon with the combined powers of our 57-year-old hero and his (La-Z-)Boy Wonder.

Because Mrs. Kamp shot at her husband from behind, the recliner’s padded, sturdy headrest heroically deflected the bullet and absorbed most of its force, so that Norman was only slightly wounded. He may have been slightly stunned, however, as he then "stood up from his chair, followed his wife into the kitchen and declared ‘you shot me,’ according to authorities."

Experts are virtually unanimous that the best course of action after being shot by your wife is not to follow her into the kitchen in order to tell her that she shot you. She knows that. She’s the one who shot you. And following her into her lair only makes it more likely that she will remember why she shot you in the first place, and shoot you again.

Which is what Mrs. Kamp did, or tried to do, anyway. She missed, and Mr. Kamp, having finally learned the above lesson, then "retreated" to a neighbor’s house where he called 911. Mrs. Kamp has been booked for attempted murder. Mr. Kamp was treated and released. The La-Z-Boy was reportedly in stable and comfortable condition.